In 2025, shareholders will cast a historic vote to decide whether future descendants of original shareholders can enroll in our corporation.
In June 2025, ASRC shareholders will be called upon to cast a historic vote. Once again, ASRC shareholders will determine the role of future descendants of original shareholders in our corporation.
In 1989, ASRC’s original shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of opening enrollment to North Slope Iñupiat descendants born after the original cutoff date of December 18, 1971, imposed by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). The vote directed ASRC to create new classes of shares, authorizing one million Class C shares and 300,000 Class D shares.
As a result of the 1989 vote, descendants of original shareholders are eligible to enroll as shareholders of ASRC. Upon enrollment, they are issued 100 shares and full voting rights when they turn 18.
Now, the shares our original shareholders created in 1989 for descendants are running out. Within a few years, there may not be shares available for newly eligible Iñupiat of North Slope descent to enroll as ASRC shareholders.
The 2025 vote is about continuing the uninterrupted enrollment of future generations of ASRC shareholders.
The vote will be part of the 2025 proxy and election process. Two measures will be on the ballot:
- To authorize an additional one million Class C shares
- To authorize an additional 300,000 Class D shares
As owners of the corporation, ASRC shareholders will determine the role of future descendants of original shareholders in our corporation.
Voting yes in June will add more Class C and D shares BEFORE we run out.
Who Are ASRC’s Shareholders?
Regardless of where ASRC shareholders live or when they were born, each one is inherently tied to the land of our ancestors. That is why all five classes of ASRC stock receive the same per-share amounts and voting rights at age 18.
ASRC’s shareholders are the eligible North Slope Iñupiat born on or before December 18, 1971 and their direct lineal descendants.
ANCSA directed Alaska Native people who lived on the North Slope, with at least one-quarter Alaska Native blood quantum and born on or before December 18, 1971, to enroll in their respective regional and village corporations as shareholders, or owners of the company. These are ASRC’s original shareholders who received Class A or Class B stock.
In 1988, Congress amended ANCSA so that Alaska Native corporations, through a majority vote of original shareholders, could also allow enrollment of Alaska Natives born after the original ANCSA cutoff date of December 18, 1971. The following year, in 1989, ASRC’s nearly 3,800 original shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favor of opening enrollment to their descendants born after ANCSA’s original cutoff date.
Our original shareholders changed the course of ASRC’s history by making ASRC the FIRST Alaska Native corporation to open enrollment to descendants of original shareholders born after the ANCSA cutoff date. Descendant shareholders are issued Class C or D shares.
Original shareholders also created Class E stock for North Slope Iñupiat who were eligible to be original shareholders and receive Class A or B shares but missed the original enrollment.
At the time of enrollment, all shareholders — no matter which class of stock they hold — are issued 100 shares of ASRC stock and full voting rights upon turning 18.
Eligible descendant shareholders are issued Class C and Class D stock, and these are the shares that will be on the ballot in 2025.
Committed to our Iñupiaq values, it is our turn to continue the legacy of our original shareholders and ensure that our children and their children can continue to be ASRC shareholders.
Let’s continue the tremendous work of our early leaders and vote “yes” in 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
For more information about the 2025 shareholder vote, please find a full FAQ list here.
The decision by ASRC original shareholders to open enrollment to descendants set ASRC apart from the other Alaska Native corporations. It gave ASRC leadership a directive to chart a deliberate path of growth for the corporation to provide meaningful dividends and benefits to our expanding group of shareholders.
In ASRC’s first 40 years, shareholder dividends totaled $604.6 million. In the past eleven years, we have distributed $1.1 billion in dividends to our shareholders, nearly doubling our first four decades of dividend distributions.
While we do not know what the future will bring, by allowing for the uninterrupted growth of our shareholder base to continue, ASRC can continue to grow the company at a similar rate as today and continue focusing on providing sustainable and meaningful dividends to future generations of shareholders.
If we run out of shares before the 2025 vote, or if the vote does not pass, then future eligible descendants of original shareholders will need to wait until shares become available before being enrolled.
This vote will have the greatest impact on future descendants of original shareholders, especially those born after 2025.
Unlike the 1989 vote, which brought in a wave of new shareholders at once, the 2025 vote will maintain the current enrollment process and ensure no interruption for future enrollment. Authorizing additional shares will allow both shareholder growth and the Company’s growth to continue at a similar rate as today.
Like in 1989, the crucial decision of whether to authorize additional Class C and Class D shares in 2025 is in the hands of ASRC shareholders, not the Board of Directors. The shareholders of ASRC will need to vote in order to authorize more shares.
ASRC has different classes of shares as allowed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), passed by Congress in 1971 and amended in 1988. There are certain technical requirements for eligibility for each class.
At the time of enrollment, all shareholders are issued 100 shares of ASRC stock and full voting rights upon the age of 18. These rights are the same afforded to ASRC’s nearly 3,800 original shareholders. Per-share dollar amounts are equal across stock classes, though rules for gifting and inheriting stock differ.
Class A: Issued to shareholders born on or before December 18, 1971, who have at least one-quarter Alaska Native blood quantum with direct ties to the North Slope, and who also belong to a village corporation.
Class B: Issued to shareholders born on or before December 18, 1971, who have at least one-quarter Alaska Native blood quantum with direct ties to the North Slope, but who are at-large members not belonging to a village corporation.
Class C: Issued to shareholders born after December 18, 1971, who are descendants of original issue shareholders and have at least one-quarter Alaska Native blood quantum.
Class D: Issued to shareholders born after December 18, 1971, who are descendants of original issue shareholders, who are of Alaska Native heritage but have less than one-quarter Alaska Native blood quantum.
Class E: Issued to shareholders who were eligible to enroll as Class A or B shareholders but who missed the ANCSA-mandated enrollment cut-off date.
How We Got Here: 1971 and 1989
ASRC is one of 12 land-owning Alaska Native regional corporations formed by the federal government through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA).
ANCSA directed Alaska Native people with a one-quarter Alaska Native blood quantum and born on or before December 18, 1971, to enroll as shareholders in their respective corporations. This government-mandated cutoff date divided our community.
After ANCSA passed, our leaders knew that the law needed to be changed to include and benefit all Iñupiat of North Slope descent.
In 1988, Congress amended ANCSA so that Alaska Native corporations, through a majority vote of original shareholders, could allow enrollment of Alaska Natives born after the 1971 cutoff date.
In 1989, ASRC’s original shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of opening enrollment to North Slope Iñupiat descendants born after the original ANCSA cutoff date of December 18, 1971.
By a majority vote of its original shareholders, ASRC became the first Alaska Native corporation to open enrollment to descendants.
The vote directed ASRC to create new classes of shares with the same dividend rights and voting rights as those held by original shareholders. Shareholders authorized one million Class C shares and 300,000 Class D shares, which translates to 10,000 new Class C shareholders and 3,000 Class D shareholders.
The groundbreaking decision changed the course of ASRC’s history. The decision by ASRC original shareholders to open enrollment to descendants set ASRC apart from the other Alaska Native corporations. It gave ASRC leadership a directive to chart a deliberate path of growth for the corporation to provide meaningful dividends and benefits to our expanding group of shareholders.
The 2025 vote is about continuing the uninterrupted enrollment of future generations of ASRC shareholders.
To learn more about the history of our corporation, we invite you to watch our full-length 50th Anniversary documentary.
Stay up to date about the 2025 Shareholder Vote by regularly visiting this website and following I am Iñupiaq on Facebook.
Do you have specific questions about Stock or the Shareholder 2025 Vote?
Contact the Stock Department at 1-800-770-2772 and press option 1, or at stock@asrc.com.